Jaser held the cell phone to her ear as she stumbled through the hallways, brushing past people to get to her office. "Look, Kenny, I don't know what you told Connor, but he told me you weren't interested in the house."
She could practically see Kenny, one hand holding the phone, the other rubbing the back of his neck, feet a bit wider than his shoulders. Whenever he made a mistake, or was asking for help he seemed to fall into that stance "Well, three weeks ago, things were different."
"Tell me about it." Jaser stepped into the elevator, hitting the button with the number eight. "Three weeks ago, I didn't have to run four blocks to the courthouse every five minutes because some paper pusher down stairs messed up the paperwork."
Kenny grunted on the other end of the line, "Sounds horrible. Now about your mom's house, are you selling it or what?"
"Me and Connor haven't really talked about it. But I don't want-" The elevator doors began to close, but at the last minute the end of a cane shot in between them.
"You just gonna stand there and not help an old man?" Achilles asked through the crack in the doors.
"Jaser? You still there?"
She immediatly pushed a button to open the doors, allowing Achilles to step into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed behind him, she turned her attention back to the phone.
"Sorry Kenny." Jaser apologised, "Like I was saying, I was born and raised in that house, I don't want to sell it to some stranger whose gonna change everything about it. I've considered renting it out, but I don't know who is gonna rent a house on an Indian Reservation."
"Isn't your mother coming back to it eventually?" In the back ground, jaser could hear a dog barking. It was probably Kenny's old pit bull dog Russ, trying to bit his shoe laces off.
"The way she sounded when she said, 'The house is yours, take care of it.' makes me think she isn't." Jaser mumbled. Realizing that Achilles was in the elevator with her, she reorted to speaking in her native tongue. "Why? Are you seriously considering moving in there?"
"Why are you speaking Mohawkan? Sombody standing next to you?" Kenny asked. "Is it your boss? Or your partner?"
"Kenny, focus."
"Right, talk slower, you know I don't speak it that well." Kenny grumbled. "Yeah, I'd like to move into your house. I can't keep living in my parent's basement."
"I'd love for you to move in there, I know you'll take care of it. And since you're a friend, if we needed to, me and Connor could stay there when we needed. But why would you want that house? It's a four bedroom home, and I'm not letting you house your fraternity brothers there." Jaser said firmly. She had seen first hand what the guys in Kenny's college fraternity did to living spaces. She didn't want peanutbutter dripping from the chandelier in their living room, or string cheese in their dishwasher.
"I'm appalled you think so little of me." Kenny snapped. "And well... it's not going to be just me in that house for very long. You remember that girl, Kandi Jones?"
"Your girlfriend from college you dated for a grand total of four months?"
"I got her pregnant..."
Jaser nearly dropped her box of case files. Kenny was Connor's best friend, he was like Jaser's second brother, and he was their cousin. Growing up with him, she knew what kind of guy he was. He never thought about the future, he was all about partying and having a good time. His college life consisted of drinking, smoking and sex with to occasional night of studying. She had no idea how he managed to pass and become a computer engineer. Responsible for a family?
"Wow, you're in deep shit."
Before she could hear Kenny's answer, Achilles flipped his cane around, hitting her on the knee with it. "Ow!"
Jaser pulled the phone away from her ear, glaring at Achilles, "What the hell was that for!?"
"Watch your mouth, girl." Achilles warned.
"I'm a grown woman!"
Achilles didn't miss a beat, "I'm still your superior agent, and I'm old enough to be your grandfather. So you might want to adjust your attitude."
Jaser shook her head, and rubbed her temple to try an ward off a headache. "Kenny, you still there?"
"Jaser... it might just be because I smoked a little weed last night, but from my end, it sounded like an old man just put you in your place." Kenny laughed.
"Hey!"
"I'm in serious need of some help here Jaser!" Kenny begged, "I found out she was pregnant, and I friggin proposed to her! She said yes! I'm getting married, I have a kid on the way... can I please stay at your house?"
Jaser contemplated it carefully, "Five hundred a month, if you keep it looking nice."
"Five hun- are you joking right now? I swear to god, I'll tell Grandma on you!"
"Relax Kenny, I am joking. Three hundred a month, and you pay for any damages."
"Thanks Jaser." Kenny said.
"Hey Kenny?"
"Hm?
"Thought of baby names yet?"
Kenny hung up. Jaser couldn't help the small smirk that made its way onto her lips, which quickly vanished once Achilles said, "I hope you're ready for a long trial Jaser."
"If you're suggesting that the case is too complex for me to win quickly, I don't appreciate the suggestions."
"On the contrary, I believe that you'd do exceptionally well on the case." Achilles assured her. "You've got a brilliant offence lined up, unbeatable."
"If you're trying to accept the plea, just say so." Jaser said quietly.
"You need to resign from the case." Achilles reached forward, and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator came to a quick halt, shaking Jaser from her thoughts.
"Are you kidding-"
"I'm being completely serious." Achilles turned to face her, his eyes beneath his fedora showing sincerity. "A case with the Yukuza as your first isn't a good thing. Why do you think Haytham Kenway would put you up to that?"
"Uh, challenge I guess." Jaser mumbled.
"Putting a lawyer fresh out of the academy on the Yukuza isn't a challenge; it's leading a lamb to slaughter." Achilles said with a firm voice, nearly as firm as Connors. "I'm pleading with you Jaser; you have an exceptionally bright future. Don't cut it so short."
The Yukuza were known very well for eliminating people who stood in their way, and to say me getting my hands on Mr. Ramano's file of snitch material didn't pose a threat would be a lie. It wasn't hard to imagine the Yukuza trying to take me out to prevent the trial.
LATER AT JASER AND CONNOR'S APARTMENT:
"You need to tell your boss to back the hell off." Jaser said calmly, as Connor walked into the kitchen. Connor froze in front of the microwave, staring at Jaser as she nibbled the edges of a peach.
"Excuse me?"
"You tell him that I appreciate his concern, but it's unwanted. And if attempts to have an ex-parte talk with me again to discourage me from proceeding with the trial, I'm going to make a formal complaint to the judge." Jaser said firmly. "Now, since that's all said and done, how was your day?"
Connor grabbed a pack of raw chicken breast out of the freezer, "Busy. Lost count of all the witnesses I combed through on that Macron case."
"Haven't heard of the Macron case." Jaser mumbled. "Any interesting bits?"
"Single mother, raising a seven year old boy, several witnesses claim child abuse."
"Sound's unoriginal." Jaser pointed out, tossing her peach pit into the garbage.
"The abuse includes making him watch her have sex with both males, and females." Connor explained. "I've had one of our psychiatrists examine him, says the kid's never going to recover."
Jaser raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't this be handled by their local SVU unit?"
"Normally, but she's hip hopped through eight different states these past six years. Now that she hasn't stayed in one state during the abuse, it's ours." Connor said dryly.
"Joy."
"Any cases you're working that are of interest?"
"Not really." Jaser admitted, "But guess what?"
"Not playing that game."
"Fine. I let Kenny live in our old house for three hundred a month."
"Why would Kenny move out of his parent's basement?" Connor asked, turning the stove on.
"He knocked a girl up, and they're getting married."
Connor dropped the chicken. "Oh hell."
Jaser shrugged, "Eh, he either sinks or swims."
"Did you hear from mom today?" Connor asked as he picked the chicken back up, trying to tear it out of its package.
Jaser stared up at Connor, wary of the question. Their mother had been a sore subject between them, for a long time now. It wasn't that they didn't love their mother, or that they didn't want to talk about her, it's just that it brought up a lot of raw emotions to even think about their mother.
Their mother was the kind of woman that lived however she wanted to live, and if you weren't on board with that, then she would just about cut you out of her life. She was strong willed, highly opinionated, and sometimes overly emotional.
When Connor and Jaser's grandmother didn't approve of their mother letting Jaser move four states over to go to college, their mother nearly split the family in two. Their mother insisted it would be a good opportunity for Jaser that she would learn about the real world instead of being stuck on the reservation all the time. Their grandmother accused her of throwing Jaser to the wolves, and that as Jaser's mother she needed to shelter her child more, and keep her at home, with her tribe where she belonged.
Connor had always been grateful Jaser had stood up on her own, calling out both her mother and her grandmother for trying to fight over her future. She had said she didn't care about learning about the real world, or staying with her tribe, she wanted to go to that school because it was the best that she could get a free scholarship on. She had even gone so far as to threaten that if they didn't put this argument behind them both immediately, then she would forget about becoming a lawyer, and go to school to major in communication skills, which would get her nowhere and waste the scholarship.
That's honestly the only time Connor had ever seen his mother and grandmother shut up. While Connor knew he was nothing like his mother in personality, he knew Jaser was nearly just like her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true.
"No. Did you?" Jaser finally asked.
"She sent a postcard." Connor pulled out the thin slip of paper from his pocket, tossing it onto the counter of Jaser as he turned the stove on and set the temperature to 350 degrees.
Jaser made a mad grab for the paper, a bit ashamed of how eager she was to hear from a woman that married a member of the mob, and abandoned her kids. The postcard was from Hawaii, showing a clearly photo shopped sun set, with a palm tree in front of the ocean. Her mother's hand writing was scrawled over the white side, in a pink glittery ink.
Dear Connor and Jaser,
I have never seen so much sun in my life! The ocean is beautiful, the wild life is untouched, and me and George couldn't be happier. I hope you're both doing great at your new jobs. Kick some legal ass for your mom, okay?
Love you!
Jaser snorted, tossing the card away. "She goes away without warning to some island in the middle of the ocean, and after all those months, she sends us a four sentence long post card. Lovely."
Connor sighed, "Look, I talked to Grandma yesterday, and she said she thinks you should talk to mom about coming home for Christmas."
Jaser stiffened, anxiety shooting through her mind. She hadn't even spoken to her mother over the phone since she left. They had kept limited contact through only pen and paper. Jaser didn't trust herself to speak with her mother over the phone. With letters, you could reread them before you sent them, make sure you didn't say anything that you wanted to, and by extension, send nothing that would upset anyone. With the phone, there was no censoring. Anything you said was just shot right to the other person's ear, and if Jaser slipped up, and started saying what she really wanted to, there would be no relationship left for her to ever salvage with her mother.
"Why can't you do it?" Jaser protested, "Or Grandma?"
"Do you really think Grandma and Mom talking right now is a good idea?" Connor asked, setting the raw chicken into the pan to fry. "And you know she doesn't listen to me."
"When did she start listening to me?" Jaser countered.
"You're the younger sibling, the baby." Connor explained, "If you make your voice quiver, and beg Mom to come home for Christmas, I guarantee, she'll trip over herself to get on the next flight out."
"Connor." Jaser said firmly. "I'm not going to talk to her."
Connor looked up at Jaser, to see she had dropped the postcard into the garbage can. "Jaser, you've gotta get over this."
"Over what?' She asked innocently.
"Over Mom leaving." Connor didn't leave any room for her to argue. "She was there for us as kids, and once we were off to college, and jobs, she left. It's not like she abandoned us in middle school. She has her own life to live, and she deserves to be happy."
"I don't care about her leaving." Jaser snapped. "I'm pissed she left with a guy in witness protection! What's even worse, is I don't know what he did! She's married to him Connor! He is our father by law! My father, for all I know, has killed dozens, maybe hundreds, or people!"
Connor sighed, the reality of the situation sinking in for him. "Jaser, reguardless of what the law says, he's not our father. I've never said more than hello to him, and i know you haven't either-"
The minute Jaser's eyes shifted to the upper lower right, he knew she wasn't telling him something. "Jaser..."
"What?"
"Don't what me, what did you say to him?"
"I don't know what you mean." She said stubbornly.
"Jaser!"
She groaned, "Fine, Dad! I told him to go to hell!"
Connor sighed, "Well, that's not too bad."
Jaser nodded, "He's lucky that I can't get to his records right now, because I don't have the clearance yet. The minute I can, I'm gonna look for every loophole I can to find a way to nullify his witness protection. He goes to jail, Mom finally wakes up when she sees the list of names this guy has killed, raped, or whatever the hell George did, and then she can move on with her life. Maybe find a better guy, you know, someone who'll take her to Canada. She's always wanted to go there."
Connor nodded, "Yeah, maybe. Achilles says I should cut my hair."
Jaser raised an eyebrow, "Really? Why?"
"He says I need to look professional." Connor ran a hand through his hair. Jaser could see why Achilles thought Connor should cut his hand, but Connor had always had long hair. When they were little, their mom used to braid Connor's hair and send him off to school like that. Most of the kids at the school were from the Indian reservation, so Connor wasn't the only guy who had braided hair. Once Connor had gotten older, he had started letting his hair just hang instead of braiding it, and pull it up into a pony tail when he had gym class.
Their Mother had always put Jaser's hair into braids when Jaser was younger, but when she got older, Jaser developed her own style. She would take the bottom layer of hair hair, and braid it to the left side, and would let the rest of her hair lay over the back of her neck, so you couldn't see where the braid began.
"Are you gonna cut it?" Jaser asked.
"No, I think I'll just keep it, unless the higher ups get pissed and tell me to cut it. Then I'll chop it off myself."
Jaser nodded, "Hey, you don't think Mom took George's last name, do you?"
Connor snorted, "I hope not. Who would want the last name Washington?"